Newsroom Archive

     In 2007, U.S. military veterans owned 2.4 million businesses, which accounted for 9.0 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These businesses generated $1.2 trillion in receipts, or about 4.1 percent of all business receipts nationwide, and employed nearly 5.8 million people.

     “Veteran-owned businesses make a valuable contribution to our economy, but until now, we did not have a benchmark that measured their role. This is the first time that we can estimate the total number of veteran-owned businesses,” said Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas Mesenbourg. “Their impact on our economy is even greater when you add to that total those businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans.”

    All in all, businesses where veterans were majority owners or half-owners numbered 3.7 million, representing 13.5 percent of all businesses nationwide, accounting for more than $1.6 trillion in receipts and employing 8.2 million people.

    The new data come from the Survey of Business Owners (SBO): Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2007, which provides the first-ever detailed information for all veteran-owned businesses in the United States, including number of firms, sales and receipts, number of paid employees and annual payroll. Statistics are also shown for nonveteran-owned businesses, as well as for businesses that are equally owned by both veterans and nonveterans.

    Nearly one-third of veteran-owned businesses (32.5 percent) operated in the professional, scientific, and technical services and the construction sectors.

    The three states with the largest number of veteran-owned businesses in 2007 were California, Texas and Florida. California had 239,422 veteran-owned businesses, or 9.8 percent of all veteran-owned businesses in the United States. Texas had 199,476 businesses, or 8.1 percent, and Florida was home to 176,727 businesses, or 7.2 percent.

    Los Angeles County, Calif., had more veteran-owned businesses in 2007 than any other county, with 62,667, or 2.6 percent of all veteran-owned businesses nationwide.

    Other highlights:

• Of the 2.4 million veteran-owned businesses in 2007, 491,344 had paid employees. These businesses employed 5.8 million people and their payrolls totaled $210.0 billion. Veteran-owned employer business receipts totaled $1.1 trillion, with average receipts of $2.3 million.
• There were 270,852 employer businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans in 2007. These equally owned employer businesses employed 2.4 million people, and their payrolls totaled $74.6 billion. Equally owned employer business receipts totaled $364.8 billion, with average receipts of $1.3 million.
• In 2007, 2.0 million veteran-owned businesses had no paid employees. These nonemployer businesses generated receipts of $93.8 billion, with average receipts of $47,931.
• There were 948,883 nonemployer businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans. These equally owned nonemployer businesses generated receipts of $49.7 billion, with average receipts of $52,355.
• In 2007, there were 117,277 veteran-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more; the corresponding number for businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans was 60,547.
• There were 7,446 veteran-owned businesses employing 100 or more people; the corresponding number for businesses owned equally by veterans and nonveterans was 2,034.

    The Survey of Business Owners defines veteran-owned businesses as firms in which U.S. military veterans own 51 percent or more of the equity, interest or stock of the business. In June, the Census Bureau will issue separate data sets highlighting additional characteristics of all businesses and their owners, including veteran-owned businesses and their owners.